Paul McCartney/Steve Hackett concerts....

[Yessongs]

Went to see Paul McCartney May 8th Mothers Day here.  Hit “Straits” restaurant Santana Row for dinner. Wifey had the “Spicy Basil Chicken” and I went with the “Spicy Dragon Prawns” Shared a Salad before hand and each of us had a glass of Wine with dinner and Kahlua Coffee after. Great food as always. 

45 minute drive to Oakland Oracle Arena. Get there at 6:30pm, show is supposed to start at 7:30pm…fat chance you know, he came out 8:15pm. 

Opens up with “Can’t Buy Me Love” and from then on a 2 hour 45 minute non stop show that took a trip down memory lane from a lot of his Beatles catalog and then a good dishing of all of his solo material. One tends to forget how much great material he actually composed, wrote and produced outside The Beatles. 

Certainly he has stood the test of time, now at 80 years old, the guy looks 60 and his physical appearance certainly has him being able to sing and perform for this long is quite the tribute to him overall I think. Working through such Beatles hits as “Love Me Do” “ You Never Give Me Your Money”  “Lady Madonna”  “Something” “Got To Get You Into My Life” and many others. He completely had control of everybody in that arena…..he pulled out a never before played song of “Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite” off Sgt Peppers was one of the highlights for me…Was pleasantly surprised at how many packs of women that were there you know?  Trust me, these gals were digging it that were all in SEC 101 around us. They could not hold back any longer when they launched into “Get Back” Wifey was up too….throwing her fist in the air and all get up!  

Certainly McCartney has a very high budget for his production and nothing was spared expense wise. State of the art lighting systems were all in full display for sure and he certainly hit the mark with a blistering version of “Live And Let Die” at the end of the show. Good lord the lasers and the dynamite going off rivaled any Kiss or AC/DC show. He played a great version of “Blackbird” in the middle of the set, where he stepped onto a smaller stage where it raised him high above everyone in the arena and he nailed it! 

I did NOT know he also plays a mean Electric Guitar and pulled out a great lead on “I’ve Got A Feeling” that showed John Lennon singing his lead part on the projection screen they dubbed in behind them and what a great tribute to him also.. 

Few of the great tunes he played from his solo material included  “Let Me Roll It”  "Maybe I’m Amazed” while on Piano. 

They brought the Ukrainian Flag and a few others out after “Hey Jude” the final song of the night and then came back for a 5 song encore to finish the night that included   "Birthday”  “Helter Skelter”  “Carry That Weight” 

Well done to Paul McCartney and his band for an absolute great night out! So nice to forget about all the crap going on in the world for just a few hours. 

 

 

So went to see Steve Hackett at The Fox Theater Oakland. Built in 1928, $75 Million Dollar renovation and re-opened in 2009. The “decor” in this place is absolutely stunning to say the least. 2,800 seats, all great views. Open bar opens at 5:00pm, doors to the theater open at 7:00pm. Went with a buddy from the gym who retired as a firefighter for 30 years. We had seats in the 12th row, little to the right of the stage. 

Dinner at Red Lobster then on to Oakland. Nice parking garage for $20, 5 minute walk to the theater and pleasantly surprised how clean the downtown area in Oakland is and uh…there were women everywhere at these outdoor bars, complete with music at 5:30pm, was not expecting that. Apparently Steve Hackett noticed too, as after his first song he told everyone “Nice to be back at the Fox Theater, nice to be out too working again. We got into the hotel about 1:00pm, I hate sitting around the room, so several of us went for a walk and there were a few nice girls outside who said “Hello” to all of us….I am glad my wife is back in England”  Cool guy….

8:15 pm out he comes and does 4 of his numbers from his solo material. Tells everyone they will take a quick break for 15 minutes, then be back to do a lot of the material from “Seconds Out” the double live Genesis album that in my opinion, is the best live album ever made. 

True to his word, out they come and launch into “Squonk” Very clean sound and the acoustics in that theater are second to none. The lead singer, Nad Sylvan has a tough job re-creating both Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins voices on the various Genesis material they play and many have said it is a tough job doing both these guys, but for this night, I thought he was very good. His band is tight and the drummer really showcased his talents doing an exceptional job for Phil Collins drumming back in the day. 

Needless to say, Steve Hackett is on another level.I did not realize after seeing him a few times over the years, how much he uses his “foot pedals” to get the exact sound on all the classic material he plays. He uses a Guitar that is made in Japan called a Fernandes. The “sustain” he can create is phenomenal. I know this cause my Son told me. Looks very similar to any Gibson Les Paul, but it isn’t and works well for him. Certainly his solo playing on “Firth of Fifth” "The Musical Box”  “Suppers Ready” and “Afterglow” show how great of a progressive Guitarist he really is. You can feel every note coming out of those Marshall Amps of his. 

The evening was just one great performance after another with such classics as “The Carpet Crawlers” “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway”  “Cinema Show” and encores of “Dance On a Volcano” and a blistering version of “Los Endos” to close the night that raised the roof on the place! 

Steve Hackett is the real deal. 

 

 

[tommy dee]

macca was originally the third guitar in the beatles, when they were 5, when sutcliff quit he was NOMINATED to be bass.  I have seen him 4 time snow, London, Frankfrut, and Atlanta, in those days he was still amazing but he is without doubt tired now.  i think he has an excellent system to BOOST "his" voice which works seamlessly as, as you say, he doesnt skimp on equipment.  the live and let Die set, with the pyros has been his highlight for years and is, as you say, amazing.  

[Pumpuynarak]

Great report and pics Mike, TFP.

[Mr. Smooth]

Absolutely fantastic! I had been thinking of seeing Steve Hackett as his next stop was up my way in Sacramento. Was playing downtown at the Crest Theater either last night or tonight, about 200 feet from that deadly mass killing we had last month. It's a 980 seat venue, and maybe 15 single seats were left when I was checking on tickets, decided the hell with it. After your critical review, maybe I should have gone.

After reading about these shows and the pics, I just wonder who the 18-20 year olds today are going to see 30 or 40 years from now? The music that came from The Beatles, Genesis and that era, was legendary stuff, written and played by actual men with instruments and these two guys still going well into their 70s, Paul turns 80 next month, that once all these old classic rockers are gone, who will take their place? Maybe tribute bands by musicians in their 30s and 40s, or younger, who understand the timelessness of these songs? I mean, can anyone really see going to a Cardi B concert when she's 65?

As far as the pics of your wife, whats to say? Her radiance shines brightly with her elegance and grace.

Ya' done good there, fella! ☺️

[Butch]

Awesome set of pics. Thanks for putting them up 🙂

Great concert and sounds like a great atmosphere. It was a nice tribute to John as well, with the screen. As you say,. nice to forget all the crap going on in the world for a few hours. Macca is awesome and for his age, it is impressive to see he's still got it.

I've never really been into Steve Hackett, mostly as I wasn't really a huge Genesis fan but I'll pop on over to Youtube and have a listen. The show looked pretty damn good though!. Glad you had a great time and wifey is looking happy lovely as always.

[Yessongs]

Appreciate all the inputs gentlemen.....

@Mr. Smooth Yeah I was going to mention to you that he was at The Crest Tues night, not sure if you would have liked him. Spot on assessment, who takes over when the legends can no longer carry on. Cardi B? How about Nicki Minaj too? LOL! 

Thank God we still have some good performers out there huh? 

[galenkia]

Superb report mate, sounds like both gig's were brilliant.

Was meant to see The Quireboys playing with an orchestra this Saturday but that's another one cancelled.

I know how to pick them.🤣

 

[boydeste]

Cracking pics Mike, nothing like a live concert, especially from the greats.

[CalEden]

Yessongs, great report/photos once again! I saw McCartney in April 1990 at Berkeley Coliseum, also a great concert. His catalogue of songs is just incredible. I'll never forget he finished the Concert with "The End". I can still hear the words:

And in the End

The love you take

Is equal to the love you make 

[Lemondropkid]

Thanks for the McCartney pictures, so many wonderful songs!

 

[Glasseye]

YES,,,

 

I plan on reading your post more closely and commenting when I have the proper time...

 

But for now... check this out....

 

 

[Yessongs]

22 hours ago, galenkia said:

Superb report mate, sounds like both gig's were brilliant.

Was meant to see The Quireboys playing with an orchestra this Saturday but that's another one cancelled.

I know how to pick them.🤣

 

Dam Alan, music is the only good thing going on in the world today pretty much. I hate when things I want to do get screwed up! 

22 hours ago, boydeste said:

Cracking pics Mike, nothing like a live concert, especially from the greats.

Thnaks Stu...there is only 1 Paul McCartney. 

21 hours ago, CalEden said:

Yessongs, great report/photos once again! I saw McCartney in April 1990 at Berkeley Coliseum, also a great concert. His catalogue of songs is just incredible. I'll never forget he finished the Concert with "The End". I can still hear the words:

And in the End

The love you take

Is equal to the love you make 

That tour at Berkeley was when he was with his band " Wings" right with his late wife Linda if memory serves me correctly. 

19 hours ago, Lemondropkid said:

Thanks for the McCartney pictures, so many wonderful songs!

 

Yeah quite the catalog to choose from...he could have played for 2 more hours. 

[CalEden]

1 hour ago, Yessongs said:

 That tour at Berkeley was when he was with his band " Wings" right with his late wife Linda if memory serves me correctly. 

The McCartney 1989/90 Tour was his first tour in 10 years and the first time since the breakup of the Beatles, that the song list was mainly from his Beatles past. Songs that hadn't been sung by a Beatles member in 16 years was the concert tour hype. Linda was in the Band, but I believe Wings was not present. He used studio musicians.

[Phantom51red]

2hours 45 min thats some going at his age,legend tho,i just missed his show he did at the cavern in liverpool about 5-6 years ago,l left on the day he announced it on the local radio in the morning,only found out when i got back home to scotland as my mate who i was visiting in liverpool told me,enjoyed the john lennon exhibition they had at the time at a museum near the docks,his guitars and written lyrics ect were all on show,was great and off course a visit to the beatles museum,and stawberry fields place with the graffiti gates.

Great report,sounds like it was a superb night 👍 

[Stillearly]

McCartney's performance from Glastonbury last night is available on iPlayer if you have a VPN 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0018sfr/glastonbury-paul-mccartney